On Michael Jackson....

OK, RIP, all that good stuff. But enough already.

I don’t mean to be calloused, but can we have a little perspective here? Yeah he was a great performer… Thriller was huge… Love all those old Jackson-5 hits. BUT…….. The wall-to-wall coverage is insanity! The whole “Michael Jackson changed lives” thing?? Well, I just don’t get it. Then again, I didn’t get it when Elvis Presley died. I didn’t get it when John Lennon died. I guess I just don't define my life around people I don't know. Michael Jackson’s passing will leave no bigger hole in my life than the recent passing of David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon or even Billy Mays.

I was flipping channels last night, and caught a bit of Bill O’Reilly’s TV show. He had a couple of other talking heads on, discussing whether the media was overplaying Michael Jackson’s importance…. A TV program devoting itself to a discussion of whether TV programs are devoting too much attention to Michael Jackson….. does that define irony?

Oh nevermind. Think I’ll go listed to some Duke Ellington. Or maybe Ray Charles. Perhaps some Jimi Hendrix. Remind myself that MJ was NOT the first African American performer to break through the "color barrier".... Meanwhile, I'm just back from the local funeral parlor the visitation of a real person who I actually knew. Don't expect to see much national media cover that one.